Yesterday, on CTV’s Question Period, co-host Jane Taber interviewed Laurie Greenslade. Greenslade is the mother of Private David Greenslade (right)Private Greenslade was among the six Canadians killed in Afghanistan on Easter Sunday when a bomb blew up underneath their armoured vehicle. Here is the transcript of that interview:
Taber: A week ago on Easter Sunday, Canada suffered its biggest troop loss since the Korean War when a roadside bomb killed six of our soldiers in Afghanistan. One of those soldiers was 20 year old David Greenslade from Saint John, New Brunswick. He was the only child of Laurie and Donny Greenslade, and his mom, Laurie, joins us this afternoon. Mrs. Greenslade, first of all, I just want to say our sincere condolences to you and your family and also to your father, David Lester. I know that the grandfather was very close to his grandson as well.
Laurie Greenslade: Yes.
Taber: How did you find out about David’s death?
Greenslade: Well, I was on the computer upstairs and I looked out and I saw three vehicles and they stopped near the bottom of our driveway. And I saw, the door opened and people in green came out and I screamed to my husband, and then as I came downstairs to the front door, they were carrying a parcel and I thought well maybe it's an Easter care package, something they do for all the families, and then as they came closer they said are you Lauryn Greenslade and I knew it wasn't good. So we invited them in and they told us, as fast as they could get the words out, you know.
Taber: It must have been very difficult for you and your husband.
Greenslade: Yes, yes.
Taber: When was the last time that you saw him? Obviously you saw David off when he went over to Afghanistan. How long ago was that?
Greenslade: January 29th. We went up for the day. My father and David’s step grandmother came too, and we had a good time talking with the boys and got to meet Kevin Kennedy (right), another soldier that was killed. They were going on vacation and they're quite close.
Taber: I understand they were good friends. Both 20 years old, both very good friends but off to Thailand or whatever on leave, they were planning a trip.
Greenslade: Australia and Thailand, yeah, yeah. I was glad I met him because I had the opportunity when we went to Trenton to speak with Kevin’s mom and dad, and share that last day. They weren't there, so I have a picture of David and Kevin hugging each other and passed a photo on to them.
Taber: Oh, that must have been great comfort for them, they're from Newfoundland, a family from Newfoundland.
Greenslade: Yes.
Taber: And when did you last speak with David?
Greenslade: Wednesday night before. And he called the house. It was lucky that he called us at home. Usually he'll call me at work because it's 8.5 hours difference and that means my husband doesn't get to enjoy the conversation, but he called at night and said it was very quiet and just asked us how we're doing and said are you worrying? And I said no, not at all. I said you're covered in prayer, Dave, don't you think anything about us. I didn't want him to have any concern for us. Just concentrate on what they were doing.
Taber: How would you want Canadians to remember your son?
Greenslade: That he was very a enthusiastic person. The army was his passion. He wanted to give 110 percent whatever he did. He was very devoted to his friends, very devoted to the soldiers, and to his country.
Taber: And when you talk about his friends — I understand that when you were in Trenton [at the repatriation ceremony], you were able to have a chance to speak with the Chief of the Defence Staff, Rick Hillier.
Greenslade: Yes, yes.
Taber: Tell us about that conversation.
Greenslade: Oh, it was excellent. I walked up to him, of course I recognized him and had touched his shoulder and said excuse me, and introduced myself. And I said my son had one last request, he was offered the opportunity to name who would bring his body back if he happened to pass away, and I said he's named these two boys there. Three of them had gone through reserves together and regular forces, knew each other very, very well, very close, and I've asked different people if they can bring them back and they've said no. And I said I will never want anything more in my whole life than to have this given to us. So he said okay, and somebody took out a note pad, and I spelled out their names, and he said it is done. And I was shocked and I grabbed his hand and I said you promise? And he said I promise. And then I was just on cloud 9. I said it's done, yeah.
Taber: So those two boys are going to come home for…
Greenslade: Oh, they're in the plane and they'll be home tomorrow sometime. And they'll be pallbearers at his funeral.
Taber: Your strength is absolutely remarkable and your attitude…
Greenslade: God's strength.
Taber: Is that what's been getting you through because…
Greenslade: For sure, yeah.
Taber: …as a mother, I have a 19 year old and I just cannot grapple with what you must be dealing with right now. What did you think when David said he wanted to be a career soldier?
Greenslade: You know, I thought it was a great goal, he was serving his country. There's always the fear. David said to me, mom, get used to it, I'm going to be army all the way the rest of my life, I love it. So you support him. You can't talk him out of it, you support him, and he appreciated that we supported him.
Taber: Supported him all the way. And this attitude is, your supportive attitude, too, I think has given you the strength to talk about the mission because there has been a lot of criticism, as you know, in political circles about this mission and about people coming home in 2009, the mission being over. What do you say to that?
Greenslade: Just say support the men and women that are over there. This is their choice to be there, nobody made them go. They love it. They want to be there with their friends. David said he'd never forgive himself if anything happened to his buddies and he wasn't there too to help. So I would say support them even if you're not for the mission, that's the best thing you can do.
Taber: Laurie Greenslade, I want to thank you very much for your time this afternoon.
Greenslade: Thank you. Thank you.